Shunning the limelight, Grandmaster
Fredrick J. Villari has accomplished much with a minimum of publicity.
He's rarely seen in martial arts magazines.
However 10,000 Black Belts and 15 million students after its conception
Fred Villari's Studios are now a far cry from the days when Fred Villari
taught two students at seven in the morning in a walk-up studio in
Waltham Massachusetts. The name Villari and Shaolin Kempo Karate is
synonymous with East Coast Kempo. In 1995, annual Villari national
tournament, held at the World Trade Center (Boston), drew 10,000
spectators to watch 5,000 participants.
As a young person growing up Villari studied martial arts with his
father. Later he was exposed to and studied several martial arts styles.
During this period he and Nick Cerio corresponded and trained with
Professor William K.S. Chow. Villari's approach to Kempo was to maintain
the style as he learned it through Chow and that is how it is presented
in the Villari System today. Fred Villari realized, because of his
varied wealth of experience and his dedication in seeking the ultimate
fighting system, that each method offered something unique, and each
also had its glaring weaknesses that could make a fighter vulnerable.
Grandmaster Villari concluded that there really were only four ways of
fighting.
1. With your hands (punching, striking - open or closed hand) or use of
any part of the arms, elbows, forearms, etc.
2. Kicking (with foot, leg, knee, shin)
3. Felling - that is to knock an opponent off his feet by throwing,
tripping, pulling, pushing, shoving, or scooping him
4. Grappling - by either wrestling, holding, breaking, locking bones or
joints against nerve centers
Grandmaster Villari realized that the ultimate in self-defense lay not
in one way or style of fighting. By combining the "Four Ways of
Fighting." he devised and developed ways to integrate diverse methods of
fighting into one, eliminating weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This is
the central theory and method behind Villari's art of Shaolin Kempo
Karate.
The backbone of the Villari's style is the Shaolin system since he felt
it was the best for promoting overall good health, wisdom and longevity.
This system is well balanced, incorporating mind, body and spirit into
one.
Villari promoted his ideas well through solid instruction and modern
business practices. Eventually his method was spread throughout the
world as more than 500 schools have been opened that teach his method.
His contribution helped open the way of the Asian martial arts, on a
massive scale, to the ordinary layman. Villari is still actively
teaching and demonstrating the martial arts in his schools today.
Official Site
Grandmaster Fred Villari's official website
